WORLD: Terror plot heightens security at U.S. airports

Mass. governor calls in National Guard

Massachusetts State police patrol with automatic weapons inside a terminal at Logan International Airport in Boston, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006. The response to the terrorist threat announced Thursday produced long lines at airports as security officials scrambled to put new measures in place and passengers faced perplexing new restrictions, including a ban on carrying liquids onto aircraft.

Linthicum, Md.  Airline passengers around the country stood in line for hours and airport trash bins bulged with everything from mouthwash and shaving cream to maple syrup and fine wine Thursday in a security crackdown prompted by the discovery of a terror plot in Britain.

U.S. authorities banned the carrying of liquids onto flights after the arrest of 24 people in an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes using explosives disguised as drinks and other common products.

The restrictions forced people to unpack their carry-on bags on the floor in the middle of terminals to remove the prohibited items. Some travelers tried to squeeze makeup, sunscreen and other toiletries into their checked baggage, where liquids were permissible.

But people without checked bags or those who had already given their luggage to their airline had to throw out the banned items.

"It's very frustrating. I'm no terrorist," said Alison Phillips as she struggled to repack her suitcase in Tampa, Fla., after removing all liquids for her return flight to Jamaica.

Other security measures were also ramped up at airports across the nation. Gov. Mitt Romney sent the National Guard to help patrol Boston's Logan Airport for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks, when terrorists hijacked two planes from there and flew them into the World Trade Center. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also activated the National Guard in California, and Gov. George Pataki in New York considered doing the same.

"That's part of the price you pay for traveling during a time like this," said Julius Ibraheem, 26, a college counselor from Chicago, as he stared at the long lines leading toward security checkpoints at O'Hare Airport.

At Newark Airport in New Jersey, one security checkpoint line stretched the entire length of the terminal _ roughly six football fields. At Baltimore/Washington Airport, security workers opened every carry-on bag that passed through one terminal, and all morning flights were delayed.

"It's better alive than dead," said Bob Chambers, whose flight from Baltimore to Detroit for a business meeting was delayed more than an hour. "It's inconvenient, but we'll make it."

6News anchor Deanna Richards reports on the situation at KCI.

The ban on liquids and gels covered such things as shampoo, toothpaste, contact lens solution, perfume and water bottles. The only exceptions were for baby formula and medications, which had to be presented for inspection at security checkpoints. Liquids were allowed in checked bags because those suitcases are screened for explosives and are stowed in the cargo hold beyond passengers' reach.

Travelers at the Burlington International Airport in Vermont were forced to discard souvenir jugs of maple syrup. In New Orleans, half-used bottles of hot sauce lay in garbage bins.

"We are seeing a lot of interesting items being discarded," said Michael McCarron, a spokesman at the San Francisco airport. "Chanel No. 5, gallons and gallons of water, and some very fine Napa Valley wine."

U.S. authorities raised the threat level to "red" for flights from Britain, the first time the highest threat of terrorist attack had been invoked since the system was created. All other flights were under an "orange" alert _ one step below red.

At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, airport employees greeted passengers at security checkpoints with trash bags. Dan Wykoff at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City saw security officers stop a man from carrying a container of applesauce past a checkpoint.

"You've got to watch that applesauce; it will get you every time," joked Wykoff, who was seeing off his brother on a flight.

Ray Watson, 40, of Denver, who co-owns a trucking company, wryly predicted a boon for makers of toiletries as he waited to pick up his luggage at the Los Angeles airport.

"I can't imagine all the millions of dollars that the Colgate-Palmolives are going to reap from this," he said. "The Dumpsters in Phoenix were filled with shampoo and toothpaste."

Reader poll

What do you think of the new airport security procedures banning liquids from airline flights:

How are you affected?

Are you a Douglas County resident who is being affected today by delayed flights or changing security procedures at airports? If so, call the Journal-World at (785) 832-7154, or e-mail editor@ljworld.com.

Laura Yeager left four bottles of Gucci and Cartier perfume for the hotel maid before heading to the Atlanta airport for her flight back to Philadelphia. She still had to give up her lip gloss at the security checkpoint.

She just shrugged and tossed it. "It's better to feel safe. We thought it was going to be a lot worse," she said.

Though some tempers flared, many passengers were resigned to the delays and wasted toiletries.

"It's a slight inconvenience," said Tom Sheehan of Toledo, Ohio, who was headed for Los Angeles from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. "It's a pain, but I still think getting across the country in six hours is pretty amazing. I don't mind waiting an extra 15 minutes to check my luggage."

Comments

Oh boy... here I am in Chicago getting ready to travel to KC tomorrow and now I can expect a mess at ORD... out of my control, just grin and bear it. I was in the Bay area a few weeks ago and had multiple bottles of very good wine in my carryon to bring back home... I'll bet there are a bunch of uptight wine purchasers in the same situation today at SFO/OAK/SJC...

well I called my sis inlaw in michigan she is coming home today she had no idea what was up not much a news person. Told her to get to airport way early cause she has all these meds. she has to travel with including liquid so I see a hard time in her future.

This will turn out to be another intelligence failure. In a few days the "terrorists" will be released, with no charges. Look at the record of the british police. It is a pathetic series of arrests followed by release. And of course, a few innocent people shot while the "bobbies" detained the dangerous terrorists!

Tourists could still come (though I'd prefer they stayed home), but they would be on their own planes. That way if the crazies blew them up US citizens would be safe. We can still do business. Nothing to stop us going there and selling our stuff. And we'd be alot safer on our own planes with only our own people on board.

I have heard of home grown, but they are very rare. Most of the terrorists are foreign. We should be very careful letting any foreigners into our country. These guys were all british (if they really did what they are supposed to have done), so the first thing we should do is send all british people here back to the old country. Most only come here to take our jobs or give us problems, so we would be better off without them. If that is letting the bad guys win, I say let em have it. At least my kids will have a better chance at getting a job or getting through life without being attacked by an unregistered foreign pedophile!

being vigil, that is what it takes and if a little bit of inconvience and time is going to keep all people from anywhere safe then so be it. People could always drive I guess if they do not want to fly.

you lump one person to a whole country, or in the plane deal 21 people but not all brits are rapists just like not all americans are. The crime of one should not condem the entire. Anger should be directed at the one/ones that commited the crime.

I would say your one brit that sounds like he should be hung a qurtared did not come straight from hethrow airport to one of ours but crossed a border most likely northern one, to me that is a bigger problem.

You can't judge a country based on the actions of one person or a small group of people.

ADKY - I don't know where to start. But as far as worrying about the safety of your children - I would start with the registered sex offender who is probably living in your neighborhood instead of making accusations about an entire country.

Not the discoveries, craigers. How they're being spun by the Republican right --- we didn't go to Threat Level Red when terrorist plots were allegedly uncovered right here in the US not three or four months ago....and hell, we barely got any news mention at all of the neo-Nazi home-grown American terrorists who got busted in Texas with enough hydrogen cyanide to clear out a city....

be vigil clamp down on what can and can not go on planes check all luggage not just carry on, and I mean really check open every suitcase and take all the stuff out, do not let people on the runway except military or military trained and checked out by them. Do not let just anybody on the plane to clean and restock same as other. may make for a longer wait and check in but......

Did anybody catch the part of the story where those were all American airlines -- destined for the US? Are we still surprised at the increased threat level? When can we start talking about the 9/11 conspiracy?

The liquid explosives were not enough to blow up the planes, but to cause enough damage, possibly causing the plane to crash, and kill those on board, as well as any innocent victims on the ground when the plane crashed. Blow holes in the plane over New York and you could kill thousands on the ground when the plane crashed into a bank or a crowded street.

It's simultaneously funny and depressing as hell that, given the absolutely outrageous stuff that this Administration has publically admitted to doing (warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, rendition, torture, imprisonment without charges, etc.).....people who think that this Administration is capable of criminal acts are still called the "tin-foil hat crowd."

to think that the administration and the British government is making this up to make themselves look better to the public is ridiculous.
I am not a republican nor a democrat, but it would take too much coordination with international,national, state and city governments to pull this type of hoax off.

Nobody is saying that they made it up, Mom_of_Three....what I'm talking about is the difference in how it's being handled in the news, when compared to apparently equally severe threats over the past few months. This one is being massively overblown....ask yourself why.

Don't you find it at all odd that when public support for Bush slips below a certain level, we end up hearing about another terrorist attack thwarted, and his public support bounces up a bit? It's been going on for years now....have you honestly been so naive as to not notice?

You do realize the state of panic that would occur if everything that was going on would be made public, right? All this BS right-left crap, both sides are equally evil in their own ways. Be thankful that this is all you hear about, forget the political spin on it... what the hell happend to the old man in front of the world clocks?

As for me, I have a combat load in the house and enough gear to keep me going for a while. It's just a matter of time before these animals successfully strike close to home.

Forget conspiracies Aug 22 is a special date in some Muslim sects. This is fromt he Wall Street Journal

What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to "the farthest mosque," usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.
A passage from the Ayatollah Khomeini, quoted in an 11th-grade Iranian schoolbook, is revealing. "I am decisively announcing to the whole world that if the world-devourers [i.e., the infidel powers] wish to stand against our religion, we will stand against their whole world and will not cease until the annihilation of all them. Either we all become free, or we will go to the greater freedom which is martyrdom. Either we shake one another's hands in joy at the victory of Islam in the world, or all of us will turn to eternal life and martyrdom. In both cases, victory and success are ours."

I guess it really is a "right wing conspiracy". Good grief, Hillary was right after all! Get a life folks! There are some real mean people out there that want us dead. I guess if we put the "out of power folks, in power", all will be well? Frankly, I don't intend to keep my head in the sand and believe that we all live in a fantasy world. Some people are quick to critize those in power, but I have yet to see a plan to do something different. Maybe we should ask the editorial department of the New York Times. They seem to know better!

Oh, don't worry about that Aug 22nd date, MonkeyWrench, that's just the administration trying to scare us. You know how Bush and the gang are big-time scholars of the Koran, I'm sure he cooked that up when he was sharing a nonalcoholic beer with Cal Thomas. I'm sure as soon as Iran gets nuclear power up and running, they'll open up their "power plants" to inspections. No problem.

Bet Osamas laughing his towel."Look at those capitalist swine running for cover".
Lemme see,no arrests,no actual contraband found?How many republican governors have called out the guard?
I am not saying that alqaeda is not a threat.I do believe that we should be in code red all the time if we insist on "staying the course".
What a crock.

Folks, I was living in NYC on 9/11. I lost two friends in the attack, unlike most Red-Staters. I recognize the difference between real threats, and smokescreens to maintain power. Sad that so many of you don't.....but hey, that's what's kept the Bushies in power: So many people in the fly-over states worried that the eeeeeeeeevil muslims are going to attack their local Wal-mart.

Hate to burst your bubble, but Bin Laden has been know for his symbolic use of Muslim dates and a few of our own to make a huge impact in the media (911- in our country used to signifiy help is on the way unless you are listening to Flava Flav) Spain the was 411 (Same meaning there). The "Journey" is also discussed in my copy of A history of Arab People by Albert Hourani on page 72.

The bottom line is they plan for years and we put our heads in the sand. I advocate being alert not paranoid. It should not matter if you were in NYC on 911 or Kansas right now...the name of the game is cooperation call the cops if something looks weird and play it safe. If they are not doing any thing wrong then so be it, but it will send a message we are watching out for each other and are not a bunch of self centered individuals who are waiting to buy the next generation of X boxes.

Sorry Monkeywrench, I was being sarcastic. I'm totally with you on this. It doesn't matter that it would be tactically stupid for Iran to do this, it's a matter of faith for them. I hope there are voices of reason there that will prevent Ahmadinejad from initiating atomic war, but I don't know. I think if anything prevents it, it will be his own arrogance and desire to hold onto power.

The other problem we are facing is Iran's leader was one of the "students" who took over the US Embassy in 1979.

One of the main reasons why I truly believe we went after Saddam first was to get a tactical advantage in the region for future actions against Iran. They were not wound up until we went into Iraq and were right at their door. Play time is over.

Tom Ridge, the original director of the Department of Homeland Security, admitted that the Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level.

So are airlines going to hand out free bottled water to passengers once they're on the plane? No. The bastards will charge for the water. And people will pay, rather than going without a drink on an eight-hour flight.

You know, I take issue with the consistent application of the word 'unimaginable' to this situation. Obviously, it's not unimaginable, as someone not only imagined it, but appears to have made a start towards doing it. Also, how unimaginable is basic math? Say the plan encompassed 8 planes, each of which can hold 250 people. That's 2000 people, no imagination required to understand the scope. We even have a frame of reference for the effects of the deaths of over a thousand people without warning - in fact, in the last five years we have two events in which we lost more than a thousand people very quickly. I think we can imagine it just fine, personally. Just a point of grammar that's been bugging me all day.

I've seen a lot of variations on "OMG the government did this because the country is shifting back to the left and Joe Lieberman lost!" I think it's kind of idiotic to suggest that this is a publicity stunt, along the same lines as suggesting the Bush Administration was somehow behind 9/11. Hundreds of people employed by another country would have to be complicit in faking evidence and arresting innocent people. This will disrupt world travel for days if not weeks. Cancellations have already begun to roll in for the airlines, and it's likely they'll take a serious hit on this - and many of them are already struggling. That, and the issues that this whole situation willl cause with business travel, will ripple through the economy and probably not do very nice things.

Overall, this is going to cost the US stupid amounts of money. You can't have your cake and eat it too; either the Bush Administration is smart enough to pull off a vast global conspiracy requiring hundreds of accomplices, dozens of arrests, reams of reports and mountains of evidence, or the Bush Administration is dumb enough to think it's worth risking a serious economic recession, more than one major airline going under, and thousands of employees back out of work on the vague hope that a massive terrorist snarl will scare more people back over to the right side of the boat.

Spin? Oh hell yes, that I'll absolutely concede. This will be spun and spun and spun, and both the Bush Administration and the Blair Government are going to milk this for all it's worth. We'll be seeing this on TV every day for the next three months. Media-wise, this is an incredible blessing for them, a massive coup they're going to blow out of proportion as much as possible. But to suggest that it was orchestrated by the current Administration stretches belief a little further than I think it reaches.

I suppose it's possible to suggest they either delayed or stepped up the investigation for good timing, but we come back to that "Either smart enough to pull it off or dumb enough to think it was worth risking thousands of lives to wait a few weeks" if it was delayed, and a rousing, "Fine, step up routine policework related to actually investigating terrorism, boys; I don't mind at all," from me if they put a little extra kick in the investigation.

None of this, of course, means that I'm entirely happy about it happening the day before I get on a plane and fly halfway across the country.

I was incorrect was part of the North American Numbering Plan, 311 is the new urgent telephone number, that can be used to contact the police and other services to report minor incidents and historic crime that does not endanger life, to avoid overloading 911. Some cities also use 311 for contacting other municipal government services, or to report situations like power outages.

Why do we really need airlines anyway? They are basically government funded, and when they decide they don't want to pay their retired employees anymore, they dump the whole plan onto the tax payers (Delta).

"My Plan to Streamline Airport Screening
To speed up screening at airports, here is what we do. We have one line for the bulk of the populace, where you get probed, stripped, searched, and felt up. Then we have another line, where you walk straight onto the plane. IF you eat a piece of bacon first.
If you're a Jew, you can get around the bacon test by blowing your nose on a Koran."
http://www.hogonice.com/

"Fine, step up routine policework related to actually investigating terrorism, boys; I don't mind at all," from me if they put a little extra kick in the investigation."

That's just it! How can we step up policework at airports when there is no police on the steets? Violent crime is WAY up in this country. Just today, the state fair in Indianapolis is worried because the city has had 13 murders this week. We have to pay for police somehow, but no one will raise taxes for them.

What I'd like to know is how long untill we get the stories about the "local connection".

You know, the one that goes... someone in Lawrence once knew a guy that had a sister that once dated somebody that had a friend that once met one of the people that was going to be on one of those planes...

These kind of stories ALWAYS come out here and in K.C. whenever anything of signifigant news value happens anywhere in the world. Of course said local person is interviewed to get their reaction to it.

And since the news organizations around here fail to grasp that the root of the word "news" is "NEW", we get inundated with variants of the same story for no less than a week. Perhaps even a month or more if the event was/is catastraphic.

Posted by Gareth (anonymous) on August 10, 2006 at 2:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Folks, I was living in NYC on 9/11. I lost two friends in the attack, unlike most Red-Staters. I recognize the difference between real threats, and smokescreens to maintain power. Sad that so many of you don't.....but hey, that's what's kept the Bushies in power: So many people in the fly-over states worried that the eeeeeeeeevil muslims are going to attack their local Wal-mart.

======================================

Hmmmmm.... A "local connection" here?

Please explain how having been in NYC when 9-11 happened has made you an expert on recognizing a real threat vs a smokescreen.

Is it the fact then when people actually die, then you conclude that the threat was indeed real? Whereas, if there isn't a body count, then it is all a smokescreen?

wow, when did Oliver Stone and McCarthy move into Lawrence. Conspiracy theories... yeah. You know, I bet there was an UFO in the area during this incident!

So, as soon as Bush is out of office... no more terror attacks. Whew, that's a relief.

Kook fringe - kook fringe - kook fringe...

I'm going to wait until the NY Times runs a story on this. They ALWAYS get it straight! For instance, I didn't realize how kind and generous the Hezbolla leader was until the NYT outlined it for me. I guess I'll have to wait...

monkeywrench1969 - You didn't burst my bubble. From what I am reading, I am on your skateboard. Yeah, it's also nice to know that someone out there now actually believes that Scotland Yard is in with the Republicans? These people have lied for so long, they now believe it themselves!

So are the "christian conservatives" at fault for the antics of the nutty Islamic fanatics? Treating our citizens fairly? Being respected by the world again? What does that have to do with the issue at hand? Hopefully C-man is right by implying that was a joke from you.

Well is that really a surprise? Of course Bush will try to (and should) take credit for some of this success. On the flip side, when something goes wrong, Democrats blame it on Bush (and interestingly they are spinning the successful unfoiling of this plot as proof of Bush's creation of increased terror threat). It's called politics.

Racial profiling would miss a Timothy McVeigh. It would miss most of the members of active domestic terror groups.

Earth First has seriously injured people (spiked logs hitting sawmill blades in the late 80s), and its offshoot the Earth Liberation Front has done millions of dollars of property damage. Operation Rescue spent most of the 90s gloating over people shooting doctors and vandalizing clinics, and they're still out there making speeches and advocating that their 'Warriors for the Unborn' take 'direct action'. PETA has strong ties to vandalism, theft, and assault.

How long before a hard-right or hard-left group gets fed up with signs and pickets and protests? How long before a Westboro Baptist Church decides to take out an AIDS clinic? The answer is that we don't know, and we can't know. All we can do is watch for behaviours that suggest a problem, because just basing it on physical characteristics gives far too much leeway and creates even more of a false sense of security.

If we build in racial profiling, then terrorists can get around it if they recruit disaffected blondes. In college I knew a very nice woman whose husband was a member of a fairly strict sect of Islam. She was about 5'10", light brown hair, and had blue eyes set in a peaches-and-cream complexion, and she utterly agreed with her husband's religious views. Do you really think that Arabs couldn't find people who don't look like Arabs to work with them? Do you think a woman that terrorists had convinced to be a suicide bomber would flinch from taking off a headscarf or dressing in jeans and a sweatshirt so she looked just like any other college kid?

Oh, and srj, this wasn't airport police work. It was Scotland Yard and the British Intelligence Service, doing their jobs. They did a good job, finding out a potential problem and taking steps to neutralize it. What remains to be seen is whether these changed regulations will indeed be temporary or whether they'll be permanent. Temporary is good; it means they responded to a known and immediate threat, resolved it, and backed down. Permanent will upset me quite a bit, so for the next week or so I'm waiting and seeing.

I just wonder why they don't just ban all carry-on luggage other than a small overnight type bag or purse that would be easy to search. Nobody needs those big bags in the passenger areas. Yes, I know it would be an inconvenience to have to recover small amounts of luggage from the baggage claim area for the business types but what the heck, why not trade one inconvenience for a few for more safety for the masses. We don't fly much but I thought it was a pain when we flew late last December when boarding and unboarding to have to wait for all those with those big carry-on bags that were lugged down those narrow aisles and then packed in those overhead compartments with many barely able to close the doors. We checked everything but my purse and I don't think I had any kind of the now banned materials in there.

We should profile all Venezuelans, anyone flying to or from LaGuardia (December 29, 1975), Palestinians (Air France Flight 139), all Americans (American Airlines Flight 444), all Indians or Canadians (Air India Flight 182), all Italians and Austrians (Rome and Vienna airport attacks), all Iranians and Iraqis (Iraqi Airways Flight 163), all Libyans and maybe all Scots just to be safe (Pan Am Flight 103), all of the French (Air France Flight 8969), and all British citizens (American Airlines Flight 63). But why limit ourselves to just airplanes? We ought to extend our profiling to everyone.

Because some of us need to travel with laptops and there's no WAY I'm checking my laptop and letting it out of my sight - especially if it has data on it protected by an NDA or confidentiality agreement. Some of us have had our luggage lost and had to attend the next day's training or client meetings in our 'plane clothes' which are more comfortable than professional, so we like to have a spare pair of pants with us just in case the airline screws up. Some people are mothers travelling with kids who do better when they have entertainment. Some people are kids travelling alone. Some people are little old ladies who get hysterically nervous if they don't have their knitting and their Readers Digest Large Print edition.

Now, the guy who calls his rolled-up garment bag or almost full-size suitcase a 'carryon'? I'm all for stuffing him into the overhead compartment with it. But a laptop, backpack, or briefcase-sized item is, for some of us, a fairly critical traveling necessity.

The existence of moderately-sized carryons isn't the problem. The existence of well-trained screeners and devices to detect weapons or explosives, that's the problem.

Thanks for the insight Badger - point well taken and I understand about the laptops, diaper bags, etc. Also the lost luggage thing would be a bummer but I haven't experienced that ordeal either. I guess if I traveled more I would understand this better. Maybe you could carry a video camera with you when you stuff the next jerk with the monster bag in the overhead compartment and put in on the news - I would love to see it. Thanks again.

You know badger, that was my pete peev too the other day when my wife and I were on an airplane. The overhead compartments were running out of room because people were bringing their full size suitcases on and stuffing in the overhead compartments taking up all the room. You would think common courteousy would creep into their minds at some point.

all people should be treated as suspects it is the only way. I know the little old lady with her knitting or the mom with the baby sound like good safe people that are not going to blow up a plane but considering one of these supposed terroist was a preg. woman..... I think not check and double check everything and everyone.

momma, think outside of that tired old box. terrorism is about destroying a way of life; killing people is a means to an end because it hits us in something we value more than anything (as evidenced by people willing to give up every bit of freedom for perceived security). By treating everyone as suspects and ridding the world of liberty is left, the government is doing the bidding of terrorists.

Just a news flash momma: you will die one day. It is inevitable.

And kg, get your own LearJet if you want to ride a plane with no inconvenience whatsoever, or perhaps fly first-class. You can certainly pay to get the amenities. You don't expect a Mercedes for the price of Honda Civic.

badger, if you have data that cannot be lost, then you should be encrypting it. Try TrueCrypt (open source and secure). Not saying you should be checking your laptop by any means, but one of your reasons has a solution. Something this simple (done by our GOVERNMENT) would have prevented the thousands of names and data of citizens from being released when laptops are stolen. The government doesn't have a clue! One branch spends its time working on breaking encrypted messages, yet another branch has no idea how easy it is to protect data through encryption... open source even!